Woman reports bizarre side effect of Covid jab
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After receiving her booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, a Sydney woman has given it credit for an unusual side effect - removing two persistent warts on her hands.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Erin Riley </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/covid-19-omicron-outbreak-mrna-vaccine-credited-with-removing-warts-in-weird-booster-side-effect/QOCD7UJGXU25S6K5D4A2ELRXTE/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">shared</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> her medical discovery on Twitter, two weeks after receiving an mRNA Covid vaccine.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I have had two warts on my hands for the last 5 years,” she wrote. “Tried wart off- they kept coming back. But in the two weeks since I had my booster shot (my first mRNA vaccine as my first two were AZ), they have disappeared completely.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“As in, you can’t even tell they were there.”</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr">I have had two warts on my hands for the last 5 years. Tried wart off- they kept coming back. But in the two weeks since I had my booster shot (my first mRMA vaccine as my first two were AZ), they have disappeared completely. As in, you can’t even tell they were there.</p>
— Erin Riley (@erinrileyau) <a href="https://twitter.com/erinrileyau/status/1480094264994402308?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Several people have since commented on Ms Riley’s tweet with their own, similar experiences, including some who noticed effects after receiving just their first dose. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I just checked and yes a wart I’ve had on my finger for at least 20 yrs is gone. Not even a mark,” one person shared.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“OH MY GOD I just checked and one on my toe is significantly smaller?! It’s been there maybe 15 years,” another wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Others have shared experiences of disappearing corns and moles.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“OK so this is weird but had a mole just above my eyebrow that (has) been developing very slowly, now it’s almost gone … so that’s unexpected. Not a wart but a mole,” they wrote.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although most warts are harmless, viral warts are generally caused by one of the 150 different strains of the human papillomaviruses (HPV).</span></p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
<p dir="ltr">OH MY GOD I just checked and one on my toe is significantly smaller?! It’s been there maybe 15 years. 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯</p>
— Isobel Roe (@isobelroe) <a href="https://twitter.com/isobelroe/status/1480119614335963137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2022</a></blockquote>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A study from the </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jdv.17771?casa_token=un9AON3sN5wAAAAA%3AZd0_bHa49HTkAV2PGy23u1I-04yMSxYDG02FjPAWiF_miSXv2E8096OHbaVqy_fyy-CTRIbYOzdEShwv" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has reported on the effect of COVID-19 vaccines and viral warts, though the effect is yet to be well-established.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The researchers cited a potential explanation that could involve activation of a person’s immune response after getting the jab. However, they said more research is needed to confirm the link.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The team also noted that the effect was interesting, as other vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella have also been used to treat viral warts. They added that though warts can disappear “spontaneously”, a similar effect has been seen in some patients who received the HPV vaccine.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Unlike the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine - which uses weakened viral material to trigger an immune response - mRNA vaccines such as Moderna and Pfizer use messenger RNA (mRNA) to trigger the response.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The mRNAin the vaccine teaches your immune system how to make the S protein found in the COVID-19 virus, allowing your body to create antibodies specifically to fight the virus which can protect you from future infection.</span></p>
<p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>
